IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals name Shreyas Iyer's replacement and a short-term COVID-19 substitute for Axar Patel
The Delhi Capitals (DC) have named Karnataka batsman Aniruddha Joshi as the injured Shreyas Iyer's replacement for the season. Iyer dislocated his shoulder during the ODI series against England last month and underwent surgery for the same recently.
Joshi will replace him in the Delhi Capitals' squad for the remainder of the tournament. The 33-year-old is set to represent his third IPL team, having previously been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) squads, previously. He is yet to make his debut in the cash-rich T20 league, however.
Aniruddha Joshi is a middle-order batsman and has played in 22 T20s thus far in his career, scoring 420 runs at 32.30, and has even accounted for six wickets with the ball.
Shams Mulani comes in as a short-term COVID-19 replacement for Axar Patel
The Delhi Capitals have also replaced their all-rounder Axar Patel with Shams Mulani until the former recovers fully. Axar tested positive for COVID-19 during his mandatory quarantine ahead of the season. He was subsequently taken to BCCI's medical facility for isolation and treatment.
Mumbai's Shams Mulani will be a part of an IPL team for the first time in his career. The slow left-arm orthodox bowler has been quite effective so far in his T20 career with 24 wickets in 25 matches. His economy rate of 6.92 is excellent and he can also contribute with the bat down the order.
Mulani comes in as a replacement under IPL's Player Regulations. Regulation 6.1 (c) states: "franchises are allowed to sign a short-term replacement player until the original squad member is permitted to re-enter the team's bio-secure environment."
Delhi Capitals start the tournament on an impressive note
The Delhi Capitals, under the leadership of Rishabh Pant, made a winning start to the 14th edition of the IPL. In the game against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), all-round performances from their players helped them secure a 7-wicket win.
Openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan starred in this game, scoring 72 and 85 runs, respectively as they put together a great partnership of 138 runs.
The Delhi Capitals will be playing their second game today against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).